Beta-(cyclohexyl and substituted phenyl)-alpha-(4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitro- or aminophenyl) acrylonitriles



United States Patent 3,502,707 fl-(CYCLOHEXYL AND SUBSTITUTED PHENYL)-a- (4,5-DIMETHOXY-2-NITRO- 0R AMINOPHENYL) ACRYLONITRILES John T. Suh, Mequon, Wis., assignor to McNeil Laboratories, Incorporated, a corporation of Pennsylvania No Drawing. Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 401,635, Oct. 5, 1964. This application Sept. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 666,921

Int. Cl. C07c 121/66 US. Cl. 260465 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The compounds are of the type of p-(cyclohexyl and substituted phenyl)-a-(dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl) acrylonitriles, and 2aminophenyl derivatives thereof. The compounds are useful as ultraviolet absorbers.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Ser. No. 401,635, filed Oct. 5, 1964, now US. Patent No. 3,381,006.

This invention relates to a new series of compounds. More particularly, it concerns certain fi-substituted-u-(4,5- dimethoxy-Z-nitrophenyl)acrylonitriles and certain fl-substituted a (4,5 dimethoxy 2 aminophenyl)acrylc nitriles which may be represented as follows:

(IN 01130 i In the above formula R stands for nitro or amino; and R stands for halophenyl, cyanophenyl, halomethylphenyl, 1owerdialkylaminoloweralkyloxyphenyl and cyclohexyl.

Compounds of the structure represented by the formula wherein R is nitro are prepared by condensing 4,5-dimethoxy-Z-nitrophenyl acetonitrile with an aldehyde selected from the group consisting of halophenyl, cyclohexyl, cyanophenyl, trihalomethylphenyl, and lowerdialkylaminoloweralkyloxyphenyl aldehydes in the presence of a catalytic amount of piperidine.

As used herein, loweralkyl may be straight or branch chained and have from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, such as, for example, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, tertiary butyl and the like.

The compounds of this invention absorb ultraviolet light and are useful as sun-screening materials in salves and ointments. In addition, because of their solubility in organic materials generally, they may be used as ultraviolet absorbers in plastics and resins, such as polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyacrylics (methacrylate resins, polyacylamides, polyacrylonitrile fibers), polyamide fibers (nylon e.g.) and polyester fibers. In the latter use, the inclusion of 0.01 to 5 percent of the absorber, based on the polymer weight, is suflicient to render protection against ultraviolet light, such as in plastic film or light filters. The absorber may be incorporated in the mixtures of monomers before polymerization to form the polymer or it may be incorporated in the polymer at any stage during its handling, as by milling into the polymer together with other compounding ingredients or during the spinning of polymers into fibers, etc.

The novel compounds of this invention are also useful as intermediates in the preparation of novel indoles by reductive cyclization. The reductive cyclization of the 3- substituted-4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl acrylonitn'les is desirably achieved by adding iron powder to a refluxing solution of the nitrile in a glacial acetic acid and allowing the reaction mixture to reflux for 2 to 5 hours. The solvent is distilled under diminished pressure and the crude prod- 3,502,707 Patented Mar. 24, 1970 uct is purified by recrystallization. The elemental analyses as well as ultraviolet absorption, infrared absorption and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra support the assignment of the indole structures described herein.

The following examples are intended to illustrate, but not to limit, the scope of the invention.

EXAMPLE I To a refluxing solution of 30 grams of 4,5-climethoxy- 2-nitrophenylacetonitrile in 250 ml. of absolute methanol is added 33 grams of p-2-diethylaminoethoxybenzaldehyde and 10 ml. of piperidine. The resulting mixture is refluxed for 6 hours, cooled, filtered to yield a solid which is recrystallized from methanol to obtain ,B-[p-(Z-diethylaminoethoxy)phenyl] a (4,5 dimethoxy 2 nitrophenyl)acrylonitrile. Melting point: C.

EXAMPLE II EXAMPLE III To a refluxing solution of 10 grams of 4,5-dimethoxy- 2-nitrophenylacetonitrile in 200 ml. of methanol is added in portions of 7 grams of cyclohexanecarboxyaldehyde and 3 ml. of piperidine. The mixture is allowed to reflux for 6 hours. The reaction mixture is cooled and the solid product precipitated is filtered and crystallized from methanol to give B-cyclohexyl-a-(4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)acrylonitrile. Melting point: 161 C. Ultraviolet absorption in methanol: 248 m (a 12,400); 295, 342 m EXAMPLE IV To a refluxing solution of 22.5 grams of ,B-cyclohexyla-(4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)acrylonitrile in 200 ml. of acetic acid is added in portions 8.4 grams of iron powder. The resulting mixture is refluxed for 6 hours. The reaction mixture is filtered and the filtrate is evaporated under diminished pressure to give a residue which is recrystallized from ethyl acetate-hexane to obtain 3-cyano- 2-cyclohexyl-5,6-dimethoxyindole. Melting point: 137- 139" C.

EXAMPLE V To a warm solution of 30 grams of 4,5-dimethoxy-2- nitrophenylacetonitrile in 300 ml. of absolute ethanol, 20 grams of 4-cyanobenzaldehyde and 9.45 ml. of piperidine are added. The reaction mixture is refluxed for 3 hours. The resulting mixture is filtered to yield a bright yellow product which is crystallized from methanol to give u-(2-nitro-4,5-dimethoxyphenyl) fi (4 cyanophenyl) acrylonitrile. Melting point: 214-215" C. Ultraviolet absorption in methanol: 246 Il'l/L (6 14,200); 289 m (a 26,600).

EXAMPLE VI A solution of 5 grams of a-(2-nitro-4,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-B-(4-cyanophenyl)acrylonitrile in ml. of acetic acid is stirred with 1.66 grams of iron powder under refluxing conditions for approximately 2 hours. The reaction mixture is cooled and filtered. The solid product is recrystallized from methanol to yield 3-cyano-5,6-dimethoxy-2-(4-cyanophenyl)indole. Melting point: 283 C. Ultraviolet absorption in methanol: 219 ma (6 28,000); 242 nm (5 16,300); 359 m (19,900).

3 EXAMPLE V11 To a refluxing solution of 21 grams of 4,5-dimethoxy-2- nitrophenylacetonitrile in 200 m1. of methanol is added in portions, 14 grams of p-chlorobenzaldehyde in 100 ml. of methanol and ml. of piperidine. The mixture is refluxed for 4 hours. The reaction mixture is cooled and the solid product is filtered and recrystallized from methanol to give fl-(p-ehlorophenyl)-a-(4,5-dimethoxy 2-nitrophenyl)acrylonitrile. Melting point: 176.5177 C. Ultraviolet absorption in methanol: 295 m (5 25,800); 223 m (6 18,700).

EXAMPLE VIII To a refluxing solution of 24 grams of B-(p-chlorophenyl)-a-(4,5-dimethoxy-2 nitrophenyl)acrylonitrile in 200 ml. of glacial acetic acid is added in portions 8 grams of iron powder. The reaction mixture is refluxed for 3 to 4 hours, cooled and then filtered. The residue is Washed with hot methanol and boiling Water and crystallized from methanol to give 3-cyano-2-(p-chlorophenyl)-5,6-dimethoxyindole. Melting point: 284-285 C. Ultraviolet absorption in methanol: 331 m (6 22,000); 236 mu. (6 24,800).

EXAMPLE IX A mixture of 10 grams of fl-(p-ehlorophenyl)-u-(4,5-dimethoxy-Z-nitrophenyl)acrylonitrile and 1 gram of palladium-on-earbon in 175 ml. of 1,2-dimethoxyethane is shaken With hydrogen at room temperature. The theoretical amount of hydrogen is taken up within 2 hours. The reaction mixture is filtered. The filtrate is evaporated in vacuo and the residue is triturated with petroleum ether and ethanol. A bright orange product, a-(2-amino-4,5-dimethoxyphenyl)- 3-(p-chlorophenyl)acrylonitrile is obtained which is crystallized from benzene. Melting point: 112115 C.

EXAMPLE X Using the procedure of Example VII and replacing the p-chlorobenzaldehyde with an equivalent amount of ptrifluoromethylbenzaldehyde, the product recovered is [3- (p-trifluoromethylphenyl)-a (4,5 dimethoxy Z-nitrophenyl)acrylonitrile.

EXAMPLE XI Using the procedure of Example IX and replacing ,B-(pchlorophenyl)-u-(4,5 dimethoxy 2-nitrophenyl)acrylonitrile with the fi-derivatives of Examples I, III, V and X, the corresponding ,8-substituted-a-(4,5 dimethoxy 2- phenyl)acrylonitriles are obtained, for example: fi-[p-(Z- diethylaminoethoxy)phenyl]-u (4,5-dimethoxy-2-aminophenyl)acrylonitrile, B-cyclohexyl-a-(4,5 dimethoxy 2- aminophenyl)acrylonitrile, a-(Z-amino 4,5 dimethoxyphenyl)-B44 cyanophenyl)acrylonitrile, and ,B-(p-trifluoromethylphenyhu (4,5 dimethoxy-Z-aminophenyl) acrylonitrile,

4 EXAMPLE XII Using the procedure of Example VIII and replacing the 8-'(p-chlorophenyl)-tx (4,5 dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)- acrylonitrile with an equivalent amount of fi-(p-trifiuoromethylphenyl)-a (4,5 dimethoxy-Z-nitrophenyl)acrylonitrile, the product recovered is 3-cyano-2-(p-trifiuoiomethylphenyl) -5,6-dimethoxyindole.

What is claimed is:

1. A member of the group consisting of fl-substituted-a- (4,5-dimethoxy-2 nitrophenyl)acrylonitriles and fl-substituted-a-(4,5-dimethoxy 2 aminophenyl)acrylonitriles having the formula References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,370,063 2/1968 Suh 260465 X 3,381,006 4/1968 Suh.

3,408,396 10/1968 Suh 260465 X 3,415,866 12/1968 Suh 260465 OTHER REFERENCES Walker, Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 78, pp. 3698-3701 (1956).

CHARLES B. PARKER, Primary Examiner S. T. LAWRENCE III, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

